Pirie warned to stay focused on lead clean-up

A citizens' action group says Port Pirie cannot afford to relax its lead prevention measures, despite an in-principle agreement to redevelop the city's smelter.

On Monday, the state and federal governments announced financial support for Nyrstar, as it sought private funding for the $350 million redevelopment.

It is hoped a new poly metals processing facility will be operating by 2016 and significantly improve the smelter's impact on the environment and people's health.

However, the chairman of the CanDo Committee, Geoff Keane, says clean-up measures are still required.

"In the meantime it means there is a three-year gap that we cannot afford to drop the ball," he said.

"We've got to continue to work with people, in particular parents of young children in the community, to ensure that they get the best chance and then to also ensure to work with and clean up the town."

It is hoped that five to seven years after the new facility begins operating, at least 90 per cent of children will be below the current guideline for acceptable blood lead levels.

Mr Keane says he is confident those targets can be met.

"When you look at where we've come from and where we are now with blood lead levels, I think we're at 76 per cent at the moment but those figures going a few years back were in the low 30s," he said.

"We've improved so much now that if you take a clean environment into the town and I think those figures would be achievable."

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.